Literature: guildford book fest

Regardless of whether justice is done in the Guild Hall next week, and Beryl Bainbridge (below) finally gets her long-deserved Booker Prize, don't pass up an opportunity to hear her read from her extraordinary Crimea novel, Master Georgie. The canary-sized former actress is writing better than ever, and when reading, combines enough room-hushing delivery and sublime comic timing to shoot most other writers out of the sky. You'll find Bainbridge at the Guildford Book Festival this week (on Mon), alongside novelists Barbara Trapido, Mavis Cheek (both today) and Helen Dunmore (Sat 31 Oct). There's poetry for kids from Adrian Mitchell (Wed), a lecture from Margaret Drabble (Thur), and a chance to pose personal questions to celebrity autobiographers Felicity Kendall (Fri) and Will Carling (1 Nov).

More info from: Festival Office, Electric Theatre, Guildford (01483 444789) Festival runs to 1 Nov